About the project

To meet the growing electric demand on the Bolivar Peninsula, Entergy Texas has developed a project to improve reliability and increase the load serving capability.

The peninsula is currently supported by a single 34.5kV sub-transmission feeder from High Island substation that serves Blue Water and Sandy Shores substations with limited contingency tie opportunities. The existing substations are unable to serve long-term load growth, which contributed to recent peak overload conditions.

The Bolivar Peninsula Reliability Project is part of our ongoing efforts to improve service. A combination of new construction and equipment upgrades will address the load growth increase and improve grid reliability. Two new substations – Palms and Port Bolivar – will be built, and the High Island substation will be upgraded with a new bay and additional transformer. Bluewater and Sandy Shores reclosers will be updated, and the five substations will be interconnected to the existing radial feed.

Approximately six miles of new underground circuit and 19 miles of new overhead circuit will be connected to the two existing substations – Bluewater and Sandy Shores – and the two new substations – Palms and Port Bolivar. Multiple self-healing networks and redundant feeds will also help support the peninsula’s reliability and expected load growth for the foreseeable future.

Project timeline

June 2023
Construction for Palms and Port Bolivar substation starts. As construction begins, changes in the landscape occur, heavy equipment is visible and traffic impacts are possible.

August 2023
Pile driving for structures begins. Pile driving is used to develop permanent foundations for structures. Landowners near the project sites can expect to hear construction-related noises, as pile driving can typically be heard up to one mile away. Traffic may be impacted.

September 2023
Entergy Texas crews and vegetation contractors clear equipment to perform vegetation activities, which includes work like cutting trees and trimming bushes. Access for property owners is not blocked during work, but property owners are notified if access is impacted.

November 2023
Distribution line construction begins, which includes installing utility poles and building new distribution lines. Foundational construction continues at the new Palms and Port Bolivar substation sites.

October 2024
Construction for Palms and Port Bolivar substations are complete. New substations are built and ready to be connected to the grid in order to serve more load capacity across the Bolivar Peninsula.

June 2025
Distribution line construction is complete. The entire Bolivar Peninsula Reliability Project is complete and available to start serving customers across the Bolivar Peninsula.